The Good Stuff
by Queenie47
Summary: Sequel to Butdhu; In all their time together, there have been many good times, now, that he is no longer her bodyguard, and life has to go on, will it last?
1. Prologue

Title: The Good Stuff  
  
Author: Queenie aka Nicole  
  
Beta: Screech!  
  
Disclaimer: Let's see, I own everything, Simon is alive and sitting next to me on my right, Sark on my left, and Vaughn underneath me, Lauren is dead, and when he's not with me, Vaughn is with Syd. No, really, I own none of the characters you recognize and love (or don't love), they belong to J.J. Abrams, Bad Robot, ABC, etc. You get the point.  
  
Rating: Let's keep it at PG-13, if it needs to be higher, I'll warn you.  
  
Pairings: Well, obviously S/V, maybe I'll hook Weiss up with someone, not sure though.  
  
Spoilers: Still staying AU!  
  
Summary: In all their time together, there have been many good times, now, that he is no longer her bodyguard, and life has to go on, will it last?  
  
Dedication: To Screech, Sarah and Toni for always giving me someone to talk to and horse around with and just be plain stupid with. And to all the readers of Butdhu – you all push me to write more. And to my stalkers, who keep pushing me to update.  
  
Author's Note: I couldn't hold out on all of you for another day! So ta-da! For your reading pleasure, this will in fact have more angst than Butdhu, because surely you didn't expect it to stay fluffy sweet forever, did you?  
  
The Good Stuff  
  
[Prologue]  
  
It had been three months since he had gotten her back in his life, three long months that seemed to fly by like nothing.  
  
They had basically moved in together, not officially, but he was there every day, he spent every night there, and Donovan, his pudgy little bull- dog had taken up residence there also.  
  
It was on one of those nights that they were curled up in each other's embrace on the couch, watching some chick-flick she had picked out that he was thinking about a lot of things.  
  
So many things had been on his mind for the last few days, that as he sat on the couch with Sydney, he wasn't even paying attention to the movie, or how when the main character died at the end, a few tears slipped down Sydney's cheeks.  
  
He wasn't pulled out of his reverie until Sydney tugged on his hand, Donovan at her heels, "Are you ready to go to bed?"  
  
"Sure," he nodded, allowing her to help him stand up off of the couch, "I'm actually tired also."  
  
She smiled playfully, and winked at him, "I never said you had to be tired, I just asked if you wanted to go to the bedroom."  
  
Donovan barked, getting impatient at having to wait for his master and his new owner.  
  
"I think Donovan is getting a little impatient."  
  
Vaughn chuckled, "Yeah, he is, isn't he?"  
  
~&~&~  
  
An hour later, Sydney lay curled up against his chest, her head using him as her pillow, but he couldn't sleep, he had too many thoughts coursing through his head to sleep.  
  
His hand grappled in the drawer next to the bed that Sydney had given him a few weeks before after she had teased him about bringing a book bag with him full of his belongings, and as his hand rooted around, it came in contact with a velvet box -- the velvet box he had been searching for.  
  
Pulling it out and raising it above his head, he clicked it open so the box was tilted, and he could see the contents of it.  
  
He had been walking around with the box in his pocket for a week, since exactly once week before he had been walking by the jewelry store on his way to meet Sydney for lunch, when he had seen it.  
  
And he had known it was perfect.  
  
Had felt that it was perfect.  
  
So he had impulsively bought it, wondering if it was too soon to be thinking about things like that.  
  
And now he had a plan.  
  
~&~&~  
  
The next night they were going out to eat dinner at a new place downtown that had just opened up, Vaughn's friend Craig had recommended it.  
  
As they walked in the front doors, the maitre'd showed them to their booth in the back that was alight with scented candles.  
  
It was beautiful.  
  
She left menus with them, promising to be back in a few minutes to take down their orders, and they sat in silence as they read over the menu.  
  
"Syd, I have to use the bathroom, so if the waitress comes back, order me the chicken parmesan, okay?"  
  
Sydney nodded as he placed a chaste kiss on her lips and headed off towards the bathrooms, but right before he got there, he veered to the left, going to find the manager, who happened to be a close family friend.  
  
"Jacques," Vaughn called, as he saw the man's back.  
  
"Michel," Jacques greeted, "What a joy to see you! Your mother told me you had a girlfriend, to what do I owe this pleasure?"  
  
Vaughn smiled, "Actually, I need your help..."  
  
~&~&~  
  
Sydney looked around anxiously when ten minutes later he still hadn't returned from the bathroom, and if he wasn't back in two minutes, she was going to go into the bathroom on her own, searching for him.  
  
But a voice on a microphone, broadcasted all through the restaurant, caused her head to snap up towards the stage, "Please welcome Michael Vaughn, singing 'I Knew I Loved You.'"  
  
Applause rang out throughout the restaurant as Sydney turned bright red.  
  
"Maybe it's intuition  
  
But some things you just don't question  
  
Like in your eyes  
  
I see my future in an instant  
  
And there it goes  
  
I think I've found my best friend."  
  
All eyes stayed rapt on Vaughn as he poured his hear out to her in the song, and surprisingly, his voice wasn't that bad.  
  
"I know it might sound more than a little crazy  
  
But I believe."  
  
As he continued to sing, Sydney felt the tears sting her eyes as they started to uncontrollably run down her cheeks.  
  
"I knew I loved you before I met you  
  
I think I dreamed you into life  
  
I knew I loved you before I met you  
  
I have been waiting all my life."  
  
He stepped down off of the stage, microphone in hand, and slowly started walking towards their table, his eyes connecting with Sydney's, and never breaking the contact.  
  
"There's just no rhyme of reason  
  
Only this sense of completion  
  
And in your eyes  
  
I see the missing pieces  
  
I'm searching for  
  
I think I've found my way home."  
  
As he got closer and closer to her, tears started falling down her cheeks faster, until her vision was blurred so much so that she could no longer watch his progress towards her.  
  
"I know that it might sound more than a little crazy  
  
But I believe."  
  
The closer he got, the closer he got to the verge of tears, and when he was but two steps away from Sydney, he pulled the little velvet box out of his pocket and...  
  
"I knew I loved you before I met you  
  
I think I dreamed you into life  
  
I knew I loved you before I met you  
  
I have been waiting all my life."  
  
...got down on one knee, all the while still holding the microphone and speaking his proposal into it.  
  
The black velvet box was snapped open.  
  
And she sniffled, wiping at her eyes.  
  
He smiled before gulping, and biting the bullet.  
  
"Sydney Anne Bristow, I love you more than I ever thought I would be able to love anyone, my dog loves you, my mother loves you, my family loves you, everyone loves you, will you make me the happiest man in the universe and marry me?"  
  
TBC...  
  
~&~&~  
  
*Lyrics from "I Knew I Loved You" by Savage Garden*  
  
So, you like? I sure hope you did. 


	2. 1

Okay, as I promised, here is the next chapter, let's just say it's enough fluff to give you a toothache, or a cavity, but I had to put some fluff in it before the angst train starts rolling through.  
  
So this chapter is to celebrate only a month and thirteen days until I graduate from high school, I so can't wait, honestly.  
  
Anyways, thanks for all the reviews and to the two people that asked about the title, the reason I named it The Good Stuff was because originally I wasn't even planning on writing a sequel because I didn't want to start something I would end up giving up on, so one day me and my mom are sitting there watching a Kenny Chesney concert on CMT, and he starts singing The Good Stuff, and this idea just came to me, the entire thing just planned out in my head, and I decided to name it this because of that.  
  
The next update will be Saturday, the next chapter is hand-written, I just have to type it up, once again thanks for all the wonderful feedback, thanks to the super-fab Screech for beta'ing, and let me know what you think of this!  
  
THE GOOD STUFF  
  
[1]  
  
...got down on one knee, all the while still holding the microphone and speaking his proposal into it.  
  
The black velvet box was snapped open.  
  
And she sniffled, wiping at her eyes.  
  
He smiled before gulping, and biting the bullet.  
  
"Sydney Anne Bristow, I love you more than I ever thought I would be able to love anyone, my dog loves you, my mother loves you, my family loves you, everyone loves you, will you make me the happiest man in the universe and marry me?"  
  
Still, the tears refused to stop pouring down her cheeks, they continued to cascade down, clouding her beautiful brown eyes.  
  
And she shook her head, she couldn't believe this was really happening, that Vaughn was really kneeling in front of her down on one knee, and that he was really proposing to her, and that this was happening.  
  
'Oh wow,' she thought, 'Oh wow, oh wow, oh wow, oh wow...is this really happening? Or am I just having a wonderful dream?'  
  
She closed her eyes and pinched herself, really thinking that she was dreaming, but when her eyes opened, and cleared, he was still kneeling in front of her, the most beautiful diamond engagement ring displayed to her.  
  
And she knew what she had to do.  
  
She had to spend the rest of her life with this man, she wouldn't be able to live any other way, her life was over, it would be nothing without him, he was her guardian angel, her life, her world, her everything.  
  
"Yes," she breathed, "Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, I'll marry you."  
  
His smile was amazing, brighter than she had ever seen it before, with the promise of what was to come in the future, in their future together.  
  
It was now that they both realized the entire crowd in the restaurant was holding baited breath, and at her answer, they broke out in applause, as Vaughn pulled Sydney to him in a passionate kiss.  
  
Before they could get too far, Vaughn pulled away and pulled the engagement ring out of the box, slipping it on her finger and kissing it gently, "I love you Syd."  
  
She beamed, "I love you so much it hurts when we're apart."  
  
"I love you so much that when you're feeling down, I feel down too."  
  
Sydney smiled, "I love you so much that words could never describe to you the intense feelings I harbor for you."  
  
He smiled at her, and lightly kissed her again, "I have another surprise for you."  
  
"What could be better than this?" she questioned, happily sighing and staying in his embrace, she never wanted to be away from him again.  
  
"Hold on a minute, I'll go get your surprise."  
  
She pouted, "Can't I come with you?"  
  
He picked her up by her arms and gently set her in her chair. "I'm sorry, it wouldn't be a surprise then, but I'll be back in one second, I promise."  
  
"Fine," she sighed, "It better be worth it."  
  
"Don't worry, it is."  
  
Vaughn scampered off towards the back area of the restaurant, and Sydney took this time to really digest what had just happened.  
  
She was engaged, she was going to get married to the most wonderful man in the world, someone whom her father approved of, which was a miracle in itself, someone that her entire family loved, someone that she loved.  
  
There wasn't one thing that she didn't love about him: his personality, his ability to love her unconditionally, his smile, it didn't take away that he was completely gorgeous and had an awesome body, his intoxicating eyes that she lost herself in every night before they went to bed in each other's arms.  
  
His dog was now theirs, had been since the first time he had brought Donovan over, claiming that he needed to leave him at her place, because his best friend had been watching him while he was on Sydney's assignment, and Donovan had gained at least ten pounds in that three week span.  
  
She loved that little dog as if he were her own, as if she had known him since he was a puppy and not for only the last three months.  
  
And so lost in her thoughts, she didn't hear or feel Vaughn approaching her again, until he knelt down in front of her, and she smiled eagerly, "Where's my surprise?" He really had given her everything she wanted tonight alone, so she didn't know what he could possibly give her that she didn't already have.  
  
She had him.  
  
A dog.  
  
A wonderful apartment they shared.  
  
His love.  
  
The ring that lay nestled on her finger.  
  
She had everything she would ever need.  
  
"Close your eyes," he told her, "And I'll give it to you."  
  
Sydney did as she was told and closed her eyes, putting her hands out in front of her, thinking that she would be able to hold it in her hand.  
  
Boy, was she wrong.  
  
"Okay, open your eyes."  
  
His voice sounded farther away, she observed as she opened her eyes, and gasped, clearly in shock, before jumping up and embracing the person in front of her.  
  
Elise Vaughn.  
  
"Oh my dear Sydney, Michel told me his plan, I just had to fly out here from France to see him propose to you," Elise told her, as she held Sydney in her arms, feeling the younger woman's tears soaking her shoulder, but she didn't care.  
  
Over the last three months, Elise had become the mother Sydney never had, she had accepted her merely because Vaughn loved her, and the two of them had immediately become close.  
  
"Elise, I'm so glad you're here, I can't believe you came all the way here for this."  
  
Elise continued to hold her in the death-lock of a hug, "Of course I came, mon cheri, how could I miss the most important moment in both of your lives?"  
  
Sydney continued to cry, the moment itself just making her feel so happy, and to have two of the people she loved the most in the world there, well it was too much for her to take.  
  
Vaughn stood behind his mother, watching the two of them with a satisfied smile on his face, happy that his mother loved Sydney the way that she did, because if she didn't, he didn't know what he would do.  
  
"And you want to know what?" Elise asked quietly, as Sydney brought her head up to look into the older Frenchwoman's eyes, "I've been thinking that I need to stay around here, maybe find an apartment around here so I can be around you two more, because I assume you're going to need help planning the wedding?"  
  
Sydney nodded happily.  
  
"Plus I want to be here to be sure that I will get grandchildren from my one and only son very, very soon," she patted Vaughn's cheeks lovingly over her shoulder, "So what do you think? Will you have me living in LA?"  
  
"Of course Elise!" Sydney exclaimed, pulling the older woman to her again, "How could we not want you here? With school, I'm going to need all the help I can get."  
  
"Well it's settled then," Elise replied, "I will now take residence in LA. But if you'll excuse me, I'm going to leave the two of you alone, I need to make some calls for favors to get me an apartment around here, plus I know you two want to be alone, so call me tomorrow Sydney?"  
  
"I'll call you," Sydney answered, "I love you."  
  
Elise smiled, "I love you too sweetheart." She turned around to look at her son, "Thank you for letting me be in on this moment in your lives Michel, I love you, and I'll talk to you soon."  
  
"Bye maman," Vaughn smiled, kissing his mother on the cheek, "We'll see you soon."  
  
TBC...  
  
&&  
  
Hope you liked it!  
  
Nicole 


End file.
